Attorney-General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor has said that the government will change the law for the inclusion of a provision of term extension for all services chiefs – the Chief of Army Staff, the Naval Chief, the Air Chief, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
He confirmed that although the Supreme Court decision focuses on the army chief’s extension, the government will change the law to provide for a term extension for all the services chiefs.
The question was raised when the Supreme Court asked whether an extension to the army chief’s term is also applicable to the air chief and the naval chief, who like the former command their respective forces and fall under the same category as per their responsibilities in regard to the defence of the country’s frontiers.
This is not yet clear if the government will go for a constitutional amendment or would prefer simple legislation to achieve the objective.
Article 243 of the Constitution that was extensively discussed during the last few days of the Supreme Court’s hearing of the army chief’s extension case, deals with all the three chiefs – army, naval and air force – equally.
In its short order, the Supreme Court has referred to the attorney-general’s categorical assurance that the past practice of extensions (given to army chiefs, either by themselves or by the governments being followed in General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s case) is to be codified under the law.
The attorney-general gave the undertaking that the federal government shall initiate the process to carry out the necessary legislation in this regard and sought a period of six months for getting the needful done.
The Supreme Court order read: “Considering that the Army Chief of Staff (COAS) is responsible for the command, discipline, training, administration, organisation and preparedness for war of the Army, and is the Chief Executive in General Headquarters, we, while exercising judicial restraint, find it appropriate to leave the matter to the Parliament and the Federal Government to clearly specify the terms and conditions of service of the COAS through an Act of Parliament and to clarify the scope of Article 243 of the Constitution in this regard.”
Just like what the Supreme Court in its order stated about the functions and responsibilities of the army chief, the chiefs of the air force and the navy are responsible for the command, discipline, training, administration, organisation and preparedness for war of their respective forces, and are also the chief executive in their respective headquarters.
The much-discussed Article 243 of the Constitution, interestingly, deals with the command of all the armed forces.
The constitutional Article also envisages the same procedure of appointment for all the Services Chiefs.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, has said that the job extension army chief General Qamar Bajwa is an issue of national interest and legislation on it would be made with the consensus of all the political parties in parliament.
Speaking to a TV news channel yesterday, she said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had constituted a committee comprising of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, and Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz to reach out to the opposition leaders and form a consensus over the issue.
She said that all the political parties should show maturity and refrain from doing politics on the matter as the country was confronting security issues.
Awan said that the Supreme Court’s decision to give a six-month extension to the army chief and asking the government for legislation in the meantime had strengthened democracy and upheld the supremacy of parliament.
She further said the army chief had helped project the soft image of Pakistan internationally, and the way he had highlighted the incidents in Indian-administered Kashmir was unprecedented.
“He has given new hope to the Kashmiri people that their struggle for freedom would reach their logical conclusion,” she added.
Attorney-General Mansoor: the government will change the law to provide for a term extension for all the services chiefs.
